18 Best Secrets On James Doohan

1. James Montgomery Doohan was a Canadian actor and voice actor best known for his role as Montgomery “Scotty” Scott in the television and film series Star Trek.

2. Prior to Star Trek, Doohan served in the Canadian military with the 14th Field Artillery Regiment of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, as a pilot.

3. He saw combat in Europe during World War II, including the D-Day invasion of Normandy, in which he was wounded by gunfire.

4. After the war, he had extensive experience performing in radio and television, which led to his role as Scotty.

5. Following the cancellation of the original Star Trek series, Doohan had limited success in finding other roles; he returned to play the character in the animated and film continuations of the series, and made frequent appearances at Star Trek conventions.

6. Doohan was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the youngest of four children of Sarah Frances and William Patrick Doohan, who both emigrated from Bangor, County Down, Severní Irsko. His mother was a homemaker.

7. His father, born in Belfast, William Doohan owned a chemist shop in Main Street in Bangor, beside Trinity Presbyterian Church.

8. Doohan attended high school at the Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School , where he excelled in mathematics and science.

9. At the beginning of the Second World War, Doohan joined the Royal Canadian Artillery and was a member of the 14th Field Battery, 2nd Canadian Infantry Division. He was commissioned a lieutenant in the 14th Field Artillery Regiment of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division.

10. Shooting two snipers, Doohan led his men to higher ground through a field of anti-tank mines, where they took defensive positions for the night.

11. Crossing between command posts at 11:30 that night, Doohan was hit by six rounds fired from a Bren Gun by a nervous Canadian sentry: four in his leg, one in the chest, and one through his right middle finger.

12. The bullet to his chest was stopped by a silver cigarette case given to him by his brother.

13. Doohan graduated from Air Observation Pilot Course 40 with eleven other Canadian artillery officers and flew Taylorcraft Auster Mark V aircraft for 666 Squadron, RCAF as a Royal Canadian Artillery officer in support of 1st Army Group Royal Artillery.

14. All three Canadian RCAF squadrons were manned by artillery officer-pilots and accompanied by non-commissioned RCA and RCAF personnel serving as observers.

15. Although he was never actually a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Doohan was once labeled the “craziest pilot in the Canadian Air Force”.

16. In the late spring of 1945, on Salisbury Plain north of RAF Andover, he slalomed a plane between telegraph poles “to prove it could be done”—earning himself a serious reprimand.

17. After the war, Doohan moved to London, Ontario for further technical education.

18. After hearing a radio drama that he knew he could do better, he recorded his voice at the local radio station, and learned about a drama school in Toronto.